Freetown Select Board to Decide on Insurance Carrier, Pursue New COA-Library Town Meeting

FREETOWN -- June 9, 2025, Freetown Select Board hears dueling insurance bids and votes to pursue a special town meeting on a stalled $2.4 million land purchase. At the June 9 meeting, the board received proposals from MIIA, quoting a net all-in premium of roughly $283,206, and from a USI Insurance Services and Travelers team, quoting approximately $276,000, with a June 30 renewal deadline forcing a decision at the June 16 meeting. Town Administrator Deborah Souza told the board the annual town meeting article to buy a 33-acre Bullock Road parcel from Cushman Sawmills for a combined Council on Aging and library building failed by fewer than a dozen votes, and the purchase-and-sales agreement expires in December 2025. The board voted unanimously to call a special town meeting and seek two separate articles, one for engineering funds and one for the purchase. Souza also disclosed that the Fire Station 1 addition general contractor is 120 days behind schedule, triggering change order requests of $137,000 from the owner's project manager and $87,500 from the architect, against a $1,000-per-day liquidated damages clause already accumulating $120,000 in contractor liability.